On certain occasions a camera user desires to be part of the scene that is being recorded by the camera. This can be accomplished with a self-taking picture camera. One way to accomplish such a self-taking picture is by using a camera with a self-timer shutter delay option that trips the camera shutter after a delay period. When using a camera with a self-timer shutter delay, the camera is placed on a steady surface and the picture taker presses a self-timer switch and then a shutter button. The camera then starts a fixed time delay before the shutter is tripped. During this time delay the picture taker has approximately ten seconds to run in front of the camera and get positioned into the scene being recorded.
If the picture taker wishes to take another self-timer picture, (s)he needs to go back to the camera to initiate the self-timer again and then run back to the scene. Obviously, such an arrangement is less than optimal. Further, typical cameras with a self-timer shutter delay feature restrict the shutter tripping to a fixed time delay. Not being able to vary the time delay limits the use of the self-timer shutter delay feature.
An improvement over the camera self-timer has recently been disclosed in which a detachable remote controller with an infra-red transmitter is used to trip the camera shutter or operate some other camera function. An example of such a camera with infrared remote controller is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,203. Such a remote controller provides opportunities for the picture taker to take more than one picture without going back to the camera, and does not restrict the shutter tripping to a fixed delay time.
While the infra-red camera remote controller provides advantages over the self-timer camera, it also has the disadvantage of a range limitation of approximately 12 meters. The reason for this limitation is that the intensity of the infra-red light decreases by the inverse square of the distance between the remote controller and the camera. A further disadvantage of the infra-red remote controller is that the emitted infra-red beam cannot be seen by the picture taker. The aiming of the remote controller becomes more critical as the distance between the remote controller and the camera increases. If the operator cannot see the infrared beam it will become increasingly difficult to properly aim the remote controller to operate the camera as the distance between the remote controller and the camera increases.